The month of June was unkind to the Blue Jays' duct tape pitching rotation and the Jays' record for the month (13W-14L) began to reflect the ad hoc promotion of youngsters to the starting lineup: Clearly, Brett Cecil is still recovering from a tanned backside courtesy of the May 20 spanking he received from Ortiz et. al; Robert Ray is no where near ready to be a consistent starter in the Big Leagues and is now where he belongs: developing a couple 'plus' pitches in Las Vegas with the 51's—where Cecil belongs too, frankly.
This is not the case for Ricky Romero.
For a guy who only had a chance to be in the lineup because Marcum and McGowan were out of the picture this spring, Romero fought hard for his well deserved spot in the roster. He's shown something that only Doc Halliday has brought to the struggling pitching staff—consistency. Sure Tallet—when he can keep his 88mhp heater down in the strike zone—and Richmond—if he can get through the first few innings of the ballgame without giving up more than 5 runs—throw good games here and there, but it just seems like Romero always has a good outing; he's exciting to watch.
The kid went into the 7th with a no hitter last week, for Christ sake. But, I was most impressed with his start today, and especially his pitching in the Top 7. With one out, runners on second and third and Ben Zobrist at the dish (who already had a single and a double in the game), the kid showed composure. Rather than pitch hard to Zobrist to try and get an out, Romero pitched around him; an unintentional intentional walk to load the bases. The result? Pitching the much easier Pat Burell (0-2 in the game at that point) into an inning ending double-play.
Most youngsters might have gotten themselves into serious trouble. Not Romero. I'm really looking forward to watching this kid pitch for many years to come.
Showing posts with label Romero. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Romero. Show all posts
